Commonly Accepted Pets means animals such as dogs and cats or otherwise determined acceptable by the Village Council.

Transcription

1 ORDINANCE # VILLAGE OF CHESANING COUNTY OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN ANIMALS SECTION 1: TITLE This ordinance may be known and cited as the Animal Ordinance of the Village of Chesaning. All items listed in this ordinance repeal and replace the current Village Animal Ordinance (Chapter 90) otherwise known as Animals. SECTION 2: DEFINITIONS For purposes of this ordinance, the following definitions apply: Adjacent property means all parcels of property that the applicant's property comes into contact with at one or more points, but does not include parcels that are legally adjacent to but are, in fact, separated from the applicant's property by a public or private street. Animal means every non-human species of vertebrate or invertebrate creature, including fowl and livestock, domestic and wild, male and female, singular and plural. At large means the animal or fowl is off the premises of the owner or custodian of, and not under the immediate control of the owner or custodian. Such action is declared to be a nuisance and dangerous to the public health and safety. Backyard means that portion of a lot enclosed by the property's rear lot line and the side lot lines to the points where the side lot lines intersect with an imaginary line established by the rear of the singlefamily or two-family structure and extending to the side lot lines. Commonly Accepted Pets means animals such as dogs and cats or otherwise determined acceptable by the Village Council. Exotic animal means is a rare or unusual animal that is native to a foreign country or of foreign origin or character, which is generally thought of as a wild species not typically kept as a pet. Fowl means a bird of any kind. Hen means a female chicken and does not include roosters. Keeping or Harboring means to allow an animal to habitually remain and be lodged within one s house, store, building, enclosure or premises. Kennel means the keeping of more than five (5) cats or dogs over four months of age at a single residence. Livestock means any farm animal. Private restrictions include but are not limited to deed restrictions, condominium master deed restrictions, neighborhood association by-laws and covenant deeds. Resident means any person living within the Village of Chesaning limits. Rooster means a male chicken Unregulated Pets means animals such as fish and hamsters that do not require regulation under this ordinance, or those otherwise determined by Village Council. Page 1

2 Vicious Animal is hereby defined as follows: a. Any animal or bird with a known propensity, tendency or disposition to attack unprovoked, or cause injury to or otherwise threaten the safety of human beings or domestic animals b. Any animal or bird which, without provocation, attacks or bites, or has attacked or bitten, a human being. SECTION 3: INTERFERING WITH AN ENFORCING OFFICER No person shall hinder, obstruct or delay any enforcing officer who is engaged in lawfully taking into custody any dog, other animal or any fowl found running at large or being possessed or housed by any person contrary to the provisions of this chapter. SECTION 4: PRESUMPTIVE OWNERSHIP Any person in possession of any animal, who provides food or shelter for a period of five days or more, shall be deemed to be the owner and person responsible for said animal for the purpose of this chapter. SECTION 5: CRUELTY TO ANIMALS 1) A person must adhere to generally accepted agricultural management practices (GAAMP) when it comes to animals. 2) A person shall be liable for cruel treatment or abuse where he or she overrides, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, cruelly beats, mutilates, cruelly kills or causes any such described acts to any animals. Whoever having the charge or custody of any animal either as owner or otherwise, that inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the same, or willfully fails to provide the same with proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather is guilty of cruelty to animals as described in this section. The cropping of dog ears shall be considered to be a mutilation or cruelty to animals within the meaning of this section, unless the cropping is performed by a registered veterinary surgeon, while the dog is under an anesthetic. 3) No person except an authorized officer, acting in his or her official Village capacity, shall molest, injure, kill or capture any wild bird or animal, or molest or disturb any wild bird's nest or the contents thereof, unless permitted by state law. 4) It shall be unlawful for any person to throw or deposit any poisonous substance on any exposed public or private place where it endangers, or is likely to endanger, any animal or bird. SECTION 6: KEEPING OF CERTAIN ANIMALS PROHIBITED 1) It is unlawful to house, harbor, or keep more than five (5) commonly accepted pets of any combination, excluding those defined in section 7 below and those defined as unregulated pets, on one parcel of property. All other animals prohibited. 2) The prohibitions of this section shall not apply to any temporary carnival, circus, exhibition or similar event which complies with all ordinances and laws of the Village of Chesaning, the State of Michigan, and federal government and has any applicable license or approval from the Village for the event involved. Nothing in this chapter prohibits the Village or a third party from bringing a nuisance action based on the keeping of animals. Page 2

3 SECTION 7: EXEMPT ANIMALS (RABBITS, FEMALE CHICKENS & DUCKS) 1) Keeping of male chickens (roosters) is strictly prohibited 2) Keeping of female chickens (hens), ducks and rabbits (exempt animals). a. Residents may keep exempt animals in the Village of Chesaning, subject to all of the following requirements: i. A permit must be obtained according to subsection c. below before acquiring the exempt animals. ii. The principal use of the resident's property must be for a single-family dwelling or two-family dwelling. iii. No more than six (6) exempt animals of any combination may be kept on a single parcel. Roosters are not allowed. iv. No person may slaughter any exempt animal. v. They may only be kept in the backyard. vi. They must be provided with a covered enclosure made of durable materials (no tarps, canvas, plastic, or similar materials) and must be kept in the covered enclosure or in a fenced enclosure at all times. Fenced enclosures are subject to all Village fence regulations. vii. A covered or fenced enclosure must be at least 15 feet from any property line of an adjacent viii. property. A covered or fenced enclosure must be at least 40 feet from any residential structure on an adjacent property; however, this requirement may be waived by action of the Village Council. 3) All enclosures for the keeping of the exempt animals must be kept in good repair so as to prevent rodents from being harbored underneath, within, or within the walls of the enclosures. 4) All feed and other items associated with the keeping of exempt animals that are likely to attract rodents must be protected so as to prevent rodents from coming into contact with them. 5) A person who has been issued a permit must submit it for examination on demand by any enforcing officer. a. To obtain a permit to keep exempt animals, a resident must submit an application to the Village. The application must be accompanied by the following: i. Written consent waving the distance requirement in subsections 2a.viii and 2a.ix above, if applicable. ii. iii. A filing fee, if any, as determined by Village Council resolution. If the person filing the application is a renter, consent must be granted in writing by the property owner allowing keeping of exempt animals in order to be considered. b. The Village may grant a permit to keep exempt animals, if the applicant meets all the conditions under subsection 2). Permits expire three years after the date of issuance. A resident who wishes to continue keeping exempt animals must obtain a new permit on or before the expiration date of the previous permit. Application for a new permit will be pursuant to the procedures and requirements that are applicable at the time the person applies for a new permit. Any person already owning exempt animals prior to this ordinance effective date will have 90 days to meet all requirements of subsection 2) and apply for their permit. Failure to do so will result in a civil municipal infraction of not less than $ (subject to change by Village Council resolution). c. If a resident granted a permit under this section fails to comply with the requirements listed under subsection 2a, the Village may revoke the permit and may initiate prosecution for a civil infraction violation. d. Private restrictions on the use of property remain enforceable and take precedence over a permit to keep exempt animals. A permit issued to a person whose property is subject to private restrictions that prohibit the keeping of exempt animals is void. Interpretation and enforcement of private restrictions is the sole responsibility of private parties involved. Page 3

4 SECTION 8: BEEKEEPING No person shall raise, transport, or keep bees, wasps, hornets, or honey bees within the Village. SECTION 9: LICENSING All animals shall have current licenses and medical vaccinations as required by law. SECTION 10: ABANDONMENT OF ANIMALS It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit or release any animal for the purposes of abandoning the animal. SECTION 11: ANIMALS RUNNING AT LARGE All animals must be kept under reasonable control. It shall be unlawful for any person owning, possessing, or having charge of an animal in the Village to violate any of the following restrictions. 1) No person shall permit or allow any animal to run at large or stray beyond the premises on which it is kept unless said animal is under leash control, by a fixed leash no longer than six feet, by a person of such age and discretion as necessary to physically control said animal. 2) No person who is the owner of any female animal shall permit or allow such a female animal to go beyond the premises of such an owner when the animal is in heat. 3) No person shall permit any animal to become or cause a nuisance by destroying property of another person or by trespassing on the property of another person. No person shall own, harbor, or keep any animal, which has become or caused a nuisance by destroying property of another person or by trespassing on the property of another person. 4) The prohibitions of this section shall not apply to any horse carriage ride which is lawfully operating within the Village. An animal shall be under reasonable control only under the following circumstances: 1) When confined within a house, pen or cage located on the owner s or other person s premises. 2) When outdoors, all animals shall be kept in the back yard at least fifteen (15) feet from property lines and sidewalks or contained within a yard by fencing or other physical means of restraint adequate to confine the animal to the owner s premises. Invisible fences do not qualify as being under reasonable control. 3) When under the manual control of a person capable of controlling such animal, by leash, cord or chain. SECTION 12: VICIOUS ANIMALS 1) No person shall own, harbor, or keep a vicious animal. This subsection shall not apply to guard dogs maintained for security purposes, provided that such guard dogs shall have been professionally trained for that purpose and the nature of the dog is noted upon the license application at the time such license is issued. SECTION 13: ANIMALS SUSPECTED OF HAVING RABIES 1) Any person who shall have in his possession a dog, cat, or any animal, which has contracted rabies or which has been subjected to the same or which is suspected of having rabies or which has bitten any person, shall upon demand of the police department or county animal control, produce and surrender up such dog, cat, fowl, or animal to be held for observation as provided in this chapter. Page 4

5 2) No person shall own, harbor, or keep an animal that has been bitten by an animal known or reasonably suspected of having been afflicted with rabies at the time such an animal was bitten, unless such animal shall have been surrendered to the county animal control, held for observation, and released. SECTION 14: NOISY ANIMALS No person shall own, harbor, or keep any animal which by loud or frequent or habitual barking, yelping, or howling, or any other noise shall cause serious annoyance to the people in the neighborhood or to own an animal which chases or threatens pedestrians upon a road, sidewalk, path or other area open to the general public. SECTION 15: SANITARY REQUIREMENTS 1) An owner or person having custody of any dog or any other animal shall not permit said animal or any other animal to defecate on any ground within the Village unless said defecation is immediately removed and disposed. 2) Any person being the owner of, in possession of, or having control of any animal shall keep the yard, pen, shelter or building provided and maintained for the confinement of such, or used for the housing of such animal, chicken or duck, clean, by removing from the premises all manure and waste matter from which odors may arise or may act as vermin harborage, at least once each day. SECTION 16: EXCEPTIONS 1) High School Property 2) Saginaw County Fairgrounds 3) Special circumstances as allowed by the Village Council SECTION 17: REPORT OF INCIDENT If a person 18 years of age or older is responsible for controlling the actions of an animal and the possessor or owner knows or has reason to know that the animal has bitten another person, the possessor or owner shall immediately call 911 and provide the person who was bitten with all of the following information: 1) His name, address, address and phone number, and, if that person does not own the animal, the name, address, address and phone number of its owner. 2) Information, if known by that person, as to whether the animal is current on all legally required vaccinations. SECTION 18: SEIZURE AND IMPOUNDMENT OF ANIMALS Upon violation of any of the regulations relating to dogs, cats, fowl, animals, or bees, the county animal control or the police department is hereby authorized to seize and impound dogs, cats, fowl, all other animals, and bees at either the county animal control or any other appropriate facility set up for this purpose. Any expense of such impoundment shall be at the owner's or possessor's expense. SECTION 19: NOTIFICATION It shall be the duty of the county animal control or the police department who impounds a dog, cat, fowl, or animal under this chapter to notify the owner, if the owner can be ascertained, as soon as possible after the dog, cat, fowl, or animal has been impounded. Page 5

6 SECTION 20: PENALTY 1) Any person found in violation of Sections 3: Interfering with an Enforcing Officer and Section 5: Cruelty to Animals shall face a fine of up to $500 and face prosecution to the fullest extent of both State and Federal law. 2) Any person found in violation of Section 11: Animals Running at Large or Section 16: Sanitary Requirements shall be subject to a municipal civil infraction as follows: 1 st offense will be a $30 fine, 2 nd offense $50, 3 rd and all other offenses shall be $100 unless otherwise specified within this ordinance. 3) Any person charged and found responsible for violating any section of this chapter not previously mentioned in any manner contrary to the provisions contained herein shall be responsible for a municipal civil infraction set forth by council resolution. 4) All fines outlined in this section are subject to change by council resolution. SECTION 21: NOTICE TO BE PUBLISHED The Village Clerk should publish this Ordinance in the manner required by law and shall at the same time publish a supplementary notice setting forth the purpose of the Ordinance and the fact that a complete copy of the Ordinance is available at the Office of the Clerk for inspection by the public at all times. SECTION 22: CONFLICTING ORDINANCES REPEALED All other Ordinances inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, including Chapter 90 Animals are, to the extent of such inconsistency, hereby repealed. SECTION 23: EFFECTIVE DATE This ordinance will be in effect in the Village of Chesaning thirty (30) days after the first publication of this ordinance. Adopted and passed by the Chesaning Village Council the day of, Signed this day of, 2018 Joseph Sedlar Jr., President Tina Powell, Clerk F:\ordinances\2018\animals Page 6